Sunday, April 21, 2013

Getting to know a DSLR camera

So we have these big fancy black cameras here at NFS, and you might have one at home too.  And you probably know that these take "better" pictures than other cameras and also cost more.  But you probably don't know why...

These larger black cameras are called DSLR cameras:
 D   =   digital
 SL  =  single-lens
 R   =  reflex

Let's watch a video from About.com that explains the difference between a DSLR and a point-and-shoot camera.
  • What are some benefits of a point-and-shoot?
  • What are some benefits of a DSLR?
  • How can a DSLR with lower megapixels than a point-and-shoot take better photographs?
Now that we know a little bit about DSLR cameras, let's learn what some of the buttons do.
Grab a camera and let's find these buttons together:
  • shutter button
  • AF/MF
  • on/off
  • camera mode dial
  • aperture/shutter dial
  • ISO
ISO is a really important term in photography.  You need to know:
  • what does ISO control?
  • what happens when the ISO is set to a low number?
  • what happens when the ISO is set to a high number?
  • what is the recommended setting for ISO for different situations?
As you know, I'm not an expert in photography.  I am an AMATEUR :)
So let's watch this YouTube video from Kerry Garrison and hear an expert explain ISO.




That is enough vocabulary for today!  We'll explore more later this week.

Now I want you to do practice using the DSLR cameras and start gathering photos that we can use for future projects.  Go outside (or stay in if you like) and take at least 10 pictures each.  If you like, you can play with the ISO setting to see how it affects your photos.






Friday, April 19, 2013

PUT YOUR NAME ON YOUR GLOG!

Hey guys! I am looking at your glogs from home and realizing that I totally forgot to tell you to put your name somewhere on your glog. So go ahead and do that! Thanks, and have a great weekend!

Monday, April 15, 2013

Sunday, April 14, 2013

History of Photography Mini Project

Woohoo, a mini-project!  I love mini-projects.  It's hard to do something really meaningful in one class period, but sometimes big tasks are overwhelming and I get bored by the end.  A mini-project is the perfect in-between...a few days to do something cool and then you're on to the next big thing!

Ok, enough small talk, on to the project...

Since I'm not with you in class this week, it is the perfect time for you to dip in to the history of photography and learn a little about how cameras have evolved.  I would like you to present your findings in a glog.  This means that you must know your glog username and password!  It should be the same info that you use to login to the computers at NFS.  If you need help, email me during Monday's class period.  I will be online during that time period and will be able to help you reset your password very quickly.  *Remember to login to edu.glogster.com * If you go to regular ol' glogster.com, your usernames won't work.  

You have four class periods (Mon, Wed, Thurs & Fri) to complete this project.  I will be able to track your progress via Glogster and will link them all together into one super glog.  You can work on your glog at home if you like, but this isn't necessary so long as you use your class time efficiently :)  Efficiency is great.  You should give it a whirl.

Oh wait.  Before we go any further.  Let me be clear.  DO NOT PLAGIARIZE!  No!  Don't even think about it.  This is super duper important so listen up.  I expect you to make every effort to use your own phrases and sentence composition.  Lots of times you'll hear teachers say "put it in your own words."  That is all good, but some words can't be changed.  For example, there's really only one word for camera.  What teachers mean is that you have to put the words together in your own way.  I shouldn't be able to Google a chunk or sentence from your writing and find it online in someone else's.

So no plagiarism, ok?  Promise?  Ok, phew.  We can keep going now.

In your glog, you must include the following:

  • When did photography start?  See if you can find out who/what/when/where, as that's a pretty easy way to organize this kind of thing.  [a beefy paragraph at most]
  • How did the first photographs actually get made?  We're talking physically here.  What did they actually use to make the photos? [a beefy paragraph at most]
  • When did digital photography start?  See if you can find out who/what/when/where. [a beefy paragraph at most]
  • How has the digital photography changed the world?  If you Google this question, you'll find a range of different ideas and opinions.  There isn't necessarily one right or wrong answer here.  That's a-ok and whatever you decide is fine by me.  The best questions often have no clear answer, and my goal is for you to think.  [a beefy paragraph at most]
  • Who is a famous photographer?  How did she or he influence photography?  There are loads of people to choose from.  Pick anyone you want. [a beefy paragraph at most]  
  • At least three pictures!  This IS photography class, after all! 
  • A bibliography of your sources.  You should have at least three.  Use MLA format.  It's okay to use www.easybib.com or www.bibme.com  See Ms. Hensley if you need help with this. 
Here are a few more options.  I like choices, and maybe you do too.

* Instead of typing out your paragraphs, you can do audio recordings.  The perks of this method are that you don't have to worry about spelling and punctuation.  Woot!  And, as if that wasn't enough of a reason to try this out, you also get to use those nifty audio players that Glogster has.  So cool.  Ms. Chiko would say "huzzah!" about this option.  Instead, I'm going to say "YOWZA!"  Ask Jody Smith about YOWZA.  Don't tell her why though. Just say, "hey Jody, I just want to say YOWZA!"  Trust me, she will definitely love this and give you mental brownie points.  And who doesn't want mental brownie points from Queen Jody?  Ok, back to the options...

* Instead of jamming all this in one single glog, you can build two or more glogs and then link them.  This doesn't necessarily mean you're writing more.  It just means you can make your text bigger (easier to read), use larger pictures, add more spinning graphics, etc.  I bet a lot of you are thinking no way am I doing this.  That seems like a boatload more work.  Personally, I think this maybe takes a little more work, but not really if I want my glogs to look good.  Crowded and cramped is no fun for anyone, including glogs.  Give your glog a little room to breathe and stretch out, ok?

All-righty, that's probably enough to get you started on this fine Monday morning.  I rambled a bit here tonight so you better get going.  Efficiency, right?  

Peace y'all.

~ K

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Lesson 1: Welcome to Digital Photography Class!

Today we are going to complete two baseline assessments:  one written and a photo shoot.

We're going to do the written one first.  When you've completed it, please bring the paper to me and then I will put you in a group for your first photo shoot.

Photo shoot rules:

  1. take turns with the camera so that everyone gets a turn
  2. each person must shoot one landscape (outside), one still life from the school supply pile, and one portrait (photograph someone in your group only)
  3. it is okay to help each other
When you come back inside, you must transfer the pictures into the student common folder.  I will show you how to do this if you don't know.


These baselines will be useful to you later in the quarter as you reflect about your growth.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Portfolio Prep

We are nearing the end of the quarter!  For your portfolios,please select at least 5 pieces of work.  At least 2 should be photos and at least 3 should be Photoshop projects.  Of course you can have more than this if you like. 

All of your selections need to saved as JPEG files.  Put them together in TWO places:

1.  Your desktop (to make it easier to pull into iMovie)
2.  Your network documents.  Make a folder - if you haven't already - called Digital Photography Portfolio.  Put the JPEGs in that folder too.

Rather than writing a formal reflection, I'd like you to do a reflection in iMovie.  For each of your portfolio choices, you should record a voiceover that describes why you chose that piece.  Your voiceovers should be about a paragraph's worth of reflection.  You can't just say, "This is my pop art project.  It's cool."  Questions to help you with your voiceover:
  • what do I like about this image
  • how does this image show my growth as a photographer and/or Photoshop user
  • what was hard about this project for me
  • what am I most proud of about this image
  • what does this image illustrate about me and my life right now
Once you have all of your pieces and reflections in your iMovie project, be sure to design a cover slide.  You should design a special cover in Photoshop.  It should say "Joey's Digital Photography Portfolio" or something like that.  Please show your use of special text effects.  It is AWESOME if you include images too.  Make it unique!

Then add your cover slide to your iMovie project.  Add transitions, music, and anything else to make your portfolio video the best it can be.When you're ALL done, export it as a MEDIUM sized video and save it in YOUR documents subfolder called Digital Photography Portfolio.  Make sure you save it there; if I can't find it, I can't give you credit :)

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Learning More About Filters and Achieving an Impressionist Look

Some of you are still finishing up your pop art projects, and that's definitely okay!  After you've saved your pop art project as a JPEG in student common AND printed a copy for me, you are free to start our next project.

The Impressionist art movement is one of my favorites!  I was lucky enough to visit the home of Claude Monet when I visited France in high school and took an art history class on Impressionists during my study abroad in London.

Before you begin, I want you to do a little research on Impressionism.  When you can answer these questions, call me over and I'll give you the thumbs up to start.  You can take notes if you like.


  • Where did Impressionism start?
  • When did it start?
  • Name at least three famous Impressionist painters.
  • What made it different?  Be able to explain at least three qualities that make a painting Impressionist in style.
Rather than walk you through achieving this effect in Photoshop, I'd like you to use the online tutorial posted at Graphics.com titled Creating an Impressionist Watercolor Look with Photoshop Filters. I'm doing it this way because:
  1. Some of you are ready to start now and others aren't
  2. It is good for you to learn how to follow an online tutorial to learn more about Photoshop <-- this is how I've learned!
The Graphics.com tutorial is great.  It gives you step by step directions with helpful screenshots along the way.  If you get stuck, naturally I'm happy to help you.

Requirements:

  • choose a photo that you (or someone in this class) took - no borrowing pictures from the web for this one
  • can be still life, landscape, or portrait...Impressionist painters did all of these!
  • if you want to shoot something special for this, go ahead, especially if you're one of those people who finished your pop art early!
  • sign your name in a script font in the bottom right hand corner
  • make your "painting" look like it's hanging in a museum!  download a Photoshop frame OR dump your photo into Pixie and frame it (there are a bunch in a stickers folder called frames)
  • save your project as a JPEG in the student common folder and print a copy for me

Here are some examples from last year:

Katharine W.

Marie-Louise


Harrison Y.